Top Sunni rebel hanged in Tehran
Iran hangs Abdolmalek Rigi, the head of the rebel group Jundallah which led an insurgency for the rights of Sunnis in Iran, Tehran's official news agency reported.
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The head of the Sunni rebel mouvement Jundallah was captured in February during a spectacular operation on a flight from Dubai to Kyrgystan.
Tehran's revolutionary tribunal has found Rigi guilty of leading armed operations in south-eastern Iran. According to a court statement, 154 people were killed, and 320 wounded in Jundallah attacks over the last seven years. Rigi’s trial was held behind closed doors.
Rigi’s hanging is seen a big blow to the leadership of the Rebel Sunni movement. In May, the Iranian authorities also executed Abdul Hamid Rigi, Abdolmalek’s brother.
The Iranian authorities have accused the rebel leader of cooperating with American and Israeli secret services. Teheran has accused the United States, Israel and Pakistan of supporting Jundallah to destabilise the Iranian regime.
Jundallah says it is fighting Tehran's Shiite rule to secure rights for Sunni Baluchis who form a significant population in Sistan-Baluchestan which borders Afghanistan and Pakistan.
In its most recent attack in October 2009, Jundallah led a suicide bombing in the town of Pishin on the Pakistani border. 57 people, including several members of the revolutionary guards, were killed.
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